The High-Risk Transformation Games Review series enters its third installment, focusing on Metroid Prime and Tomb Raider (2013). Both titles actively broke away from their series' established frameworks and demonstrated through sales performance that this冒险 paid off.
Metroid and Castlevania jointly laid the foundation for the Metroidvania genre, with the series long known for its 2D entries. However, after Metroid's absence on the N64, Nintendo decided to seek a new direction for the franchise during the GameCube era. Shigeru Miyamoto stated that the team lacked suitable ideas at the time and believed the N64 controller was unsuitable for creating a new entry; an unnamed studio even declined to take on the project, citing an inability to surpass Super Metroid.
Nintendo and Iguana Entertainment established Retro Studios in Texas, USA, in 1998. In 2000, Retro was simultaneously developing four GameCube projects, including the RPG Blade of the Raven. After Shigeru Miyamoto visited the studio and noticed their first-person engine demo, he proposed that the team develop a new Metroid title. All four original projects were subsequently canceled, giving birth to Metroid Prime.
During development, Nintendo's Japanese team maintained continuous communication with Retro via video conferences. The project was initially designed as a third-person game, but Shigeru Miyamoto opposed this approach, leading the team to discard and redo significant portions of content to adjust the experience to first-person. Upon its release in 2002, Metroid Prime became the second highest-selling game of the month, trailing only Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, with global cumulative sales reaching 2.84 million copies. It held the series' sales record until the release of Metroid Dread.
Later, Metroid Prime was included in Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii and appeared as a remastered version on the Nintendo Switch, extending this shift from 2D exploration to first-person perspective to more platforms.
Tomb Raider's transformation occurred after the series had regained its footing. Following the poor performance of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Crystal Dynamics regained player recognition with titles like Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Anniversary. After the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld, the team did not continue along the existing path but instead set out to redesign the series and its core character, Lara Croft.
The development team studied how classic characters were reinvented in Batman Begins and #Funtime Casino Royale, discussing Everythinggj from Lara's attire, personality, and background to her nationality. Game Director Noah Hughes noted that Bond and Batman faced similar challenges in modernizing for a new generation of audiences, proving that Lara could undergo a similar transformation. The team spent about a year preparing the reboot proposal and received immediate approval from Square Enix management upon presentation.
The new Lara is no longer centered on her past "femme fatale" and heroic image, but is instead portrayed as a survivor. The team also drew inspiration from the 1993 film Alive and the experiences of American mountaineer Aron Ralston. Square Enix registered the game's tagline "A Survivor is Born" in November 2010, when the title had not yet been revealed.
Tomb Raider was released in 2013, selling one million copies within the first 48 hours and breaking series records; before the launch of Grand Theft Auto V, it was the biggest day-one release in the UK market that year. The game received numerous Game of the Year nominations, with critics praising its atmospheric settings, character development, and gameplay.